“I’m a bit more mature now, so I realised how important it is to open up.”
He said talking to someone he trusts and staying active have become important for looking after his mental health.
At school, he realised his experience was not unique.
“I’ve had friends that have struggled with mental health,” MacInnes said.
“There’s always like a bit of a stigma around young men and opening up, and we really wanted to change that.”
MacInnes and fellow student Jake Smith, 18, decided to use their experiences to make conversations about emotional wellbeing easier for other young men.
The pair came up with 24 Hours for the Lads, whereby Year 12 and 13 students will stay at St John’s College for 24 hours while taking part in sport, activities, challenges and conversations about mental health.
The event will run from 9am on Saturday, September 19, until 9am the next day; money raised will go to Hawke’s Bay suicide prevention programme Mates4Life.
Students will hear from speakers and take part in activities including an obstacle course designed to illustrate how carrying a mental load can make other parts of life more difficult.
MacInnes said the 24-hour format would require the boys to support each other when things became difficult.
“We’re hoping they can kind of correspond to when something else is tricky mentally … you have those boys to help you get through that time.”
He hopes the inaugural event will be the start of something bigger.
“We can plant the seed,” he said.
“I really hope that we can break that stigma and finally get the boys talking and supporting each other.”
St John’s College principal George Rogers said the student-led nature of the initiative was particularly important.
“It’s awesome for our young men to lead our young men rather than adults leading the young men,” he said.
Rogers said even teens who appeared to be doing well could be dealing with challenges difficult for others to see.
“What we don’t know is the complex internal maze that a young man has to navigate,” he said.
Rogers said loneliness was one of the issues he was seeing among students, despite living in a world where people are more connected than ever before.
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Uncertainty about the future was another pressure, he said, including questions about the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs and what the world of work would look like for today’s teenagers.
With a roll of about 400 students, Rogers said the school’s size helped staff build close relationships with the boys.
He said the initiative also reflected the Catholic school’s approach to student leadership.
“A legacy isn’t about what Max is doing,” Rogers said.
“A legacy is actually about how people feel about what he’s doing.”
St John’s College student Max MacInnes (left) and principal George Rogers share a handshake outside the school, part of a long-standing St John’s College tradition. Photo / Rafaella Melo
Mates4Life Hawke’s Bay general manager Tyson Ataera said the organisation had trained the students involved in the event through its Safety Aider programme, which teaches people how to recognise and respond when someone may be experiencing suicidal thoughts.
“Not everyone is going to go and reach out for support when you’re in that dark space,” Ataera said.
“The whole point of it is around brotherhood and banding together and looking after one another when those times get tough and when the pressure comes on.”
Mates4Life will open the 24-hour challenge with a 45-minute Scope Talk workshop, helping students identify ways to look after their wellbeing and develop a plan for coping under pressure.
Money raised through the event will go towards Mates4Life programmes and workshops in Hawke’s Bay, including work aimed at younger people.